EU youth exchange in Ireland

A group of youths from St Margaret College, Cottonera, recently took part in a youth exchange in Ireland entitled ‘Together we can achieve’ that brought together 36 young people from Tortona, Italy, Puumala, Finland and Ballyformet, Ireland.

The exchange programme comprised a series of sporting, volunteering and adventure activities organised b Ballyformet Youth Services Ltd, through which the youths experienced working together. The young people spent a day playing team sports and racket ball and taking part in self-defence and fitness sessions in a local gym.

The youths paired up and spent another day volunteering in different organisations in Ballyformet. The Maltese participants did voluntary work at a shelter for the elderly, with children, at a radio station and distributing fliers to the local community.

On another day, the youths went on a nine-kilometre hike on the Oakwood Mountains and camped overnight. During this activity the young people had to cooperate with each other to take all the equipment along and support each other, especially when it was raining heavily.

The youths also had the opportunity of watching the Broadway show Legally Blonde and visit the historical remains at Glenalough.

These exchanges, which are co-funded by the EU Youth in Action programme, promote youths’ mo­bility, cooperation and European citizenship, and enables them to practise their foreign language skills. The youths’ experience is certified in a Youth Pass certificate.

This was the third exchange the college has taken part in over the past two years. The Maltese youths attend the college youth club ZTK on a regular basis. The college has recently been awarded funding to host an exchange during the summer. These projects are coordinated by the college’s youth worker Simon Schembri with the support of its trainee counsellor Abigail Church.